"You cannot justify the Houses of Parliament not having a predominance of elected representatives.

"Jack Straw's proposals are a welcome first stab at a package of reforms which were greatly overdue.

"But [he] has so far failed to grasp the fundamental point - the replacement House of Lords must be predominantly elected."

The Conservative Leader in the House of Lords, Lord Strathclyde, said: "We are in favour of replacing Labour's cronyism with an elected House of Lords with more powers which will be better able to hold an over-mighty Government to account.